I was taught that the Wortheless Shepherd prophecies pointed to the fact that Pharisees, etc. would reject Jesus (name basically means means 'savior') and in turn would turn to or get a "worthless shepherd" which to knowledge led them to Bar Kokhba revolt (Maccabean): a leader that made thousands cut off their fingers of their right hand etc., and led them to destruction and judgement with Rome being used as instrument of such judgment. The worthless shepherd prophecy was fulfilled to the 't' after they rejected Jesus.
The Expositor's Bible Commentary gives some insight although their commentary still holds on to some vestiges of yet-to-be-futurism. There are
many "midrashim" about Simeon bar Kochba/Kohkba, here is one:
Also, from the Palestine Talmud (,Ta'anit 4.5):
The picture being painted is that Simeon bar Kochba it seems fulfilled the Worthless Shepherd prophecy. There is related book entitled
Jewish Identity and Politics Between the Maccabees and Bar Kokhba by one Benedikt Eckhardt. However, there is a rather plausible notion of "the Worthless Shepherd" being composed of or alluding to each and every one the unreliable 'leaders' substituted for Jesus.
The Worthless Shepherd Prophecy brings Jeremiah 17:5 to mind:
From Jeremiah I also glean that reliance upon mundane political or military forces or could not have been part of the fulfillment of messianic prophecies since the word for arm also means: "forces (political and military)". In view of Jeremiah 17:5, likelihood of Jesus then having been intending to stage a secular coup d'etat is greatly diminished. One might also consider, also, riding on a donkey (peace) vs. riding on a horse (war) which had very significant meanings then.
One might also consider Habbakuk 1:16 which to knowledge describes the Babylonian practice of "worshipping one's net":
I was taught that net here mainly refers to their (Babylon's) military might or their of coercive force. The Hebrews, of course, would lack that kind of characteristic of worshipping (serving) or attributing their success or prosperity to military power. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers lucidates:
The
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary (re: Habakkuk) echoes much the same:
In contrast to the Babylonians, it would have been most uncharacteristic of ancient Israel or of Hebrews generally to lawfully in God's eyes to worship their own 'net'. Jesus reliance upon secular or mundane military progress is highly diminished in light of the foregoing. The writings of Josephus and others clearly point to the divine and holy.
For further elucidation, earlier on in the Book of Zechariah we find: